BoxRec

Erislandy Lara-Thomas Lamanna In Works For FOX Lead-In To Ruiz-Arreloa PPV Show April 24

Thomas Lamanna finally has landed the high-profile fight he has pursued the past couple years.

Boxing Scene has learned that plans are in place for Lamanna to battle Erislandy Lara on April 24 at a site to be determined. The Lara-Lamanna bout is expected to headline a “FOX PBC Fight Night” show that will air just before the start of a FOX Sports Pay-Per-View card that’ll feature heavyweights Andy Ruiz Jr. and Chris Arreola in the main event.

The FOX main event between Lara and Lamanna will be a 12-rounder. Lara holds the WBA world super welterweight title, but his fight against Lamanna could be contested at 160 pounds for a vacant version of the WBA middleweight title.

Lamanna, 29, is ranked eighth among the WBA’s middleweight contenders. Lara, 37, has fought almost exclusively at or near the junior middleweight maximum of 154 pounds since he turned pro in July 2008, but the Cuban-born southpaw has often discussed a willingness to compete in the middleweight division.

Lamanna (30-4-1, 12 KOs), of Millville, New Jersey, has knocked out two middleweight journeymen in Agua Prieta, Mexico, since losing a 10-round unanimous decision to Las Vegas’ Brian Mendoza (19-1, 13 KOs) in a very competitive, 10-round, 154-pound fight August 29 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) beat Greg Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision in the 12-round main event of FOX’s telecast August 29. Lamanna was on standby to replace Vendetti as Lara’s opponent that night in the event Vendetti tested positive for COVID-19 or was forced to withdraw from their fight for any other reason.

While widely viewed as an elite boxer in his division, Lara will face a huge underdog in a third straight bout when he meets Lamanna next month. Before he defeated Vendetti, Lara knocked out Mexico’s Ramon Alvarez (28-8-3, 16 KOs) in the second round of their August 2019 bout at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Lara regained the WBA world 154-pound crown by beating an overmatched Alvarez, the older brother of four-division champion Canelo Alvarez. In Lara’s previous appearance, he fought to a 12-round split draw with Argentina’s Brian Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs), who owned the WBA world super welterweight title at that time.

Lamanna, meanwhile, was stopped in the fifth round by Mexican contender Jorge Cota (30-4, 27 KOs) in his bout before his loss to Mendoza.

So Lara still holds THE WBA belt at 154? Or is that regular?

This fight will be at 160 though, for the WBA title.

Wasn't Muarata or someone else made the Super or main champion?

Erislandy Lara keeps himself irrelevant

fighting cornflake lamanna

Press Release

Cuban star and WBA Super Welterweight Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara will seek a third world title in a second weight class when he faces veteran contender Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna for the WBA Middleweight Title in the main event of FOX PBC Fight Night and on FOX Deportes Saturday, May 1 as part of a stacked night of boxing from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and precedes the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View event headlined by former unified heavyweight world champion Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr. battling all-action heavyweight Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola, which tops a stellar boxing extravaganza all taking place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The FOX PBC Fight Night co-main event will see top featherweight contender Eduardo Ramirez take on hard-hitting Isaac Avelar in a 12-round fight for the vacant interim WBA Featherweight Title.

The event is promoted by TGB Promotions. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 26 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased at AXS.com for the event that includes an action-packed lineup of FOX PBC Fight Night and FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View fights. Dignity Health Sports Park will be open to fans in a limited capacity, with all guests remaining socially distanced and subject to local and state health guidelines throughout the event.

“Erislandy Lara has had a long reign as an elite 154-pounder and now has his sights set on a new challenge in the star-studded middleweight division,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “He will bring his renowned skills and style to this tough matchup against the young and rangy Thomas LaManna. With fast-rising Mexican contender Eduardo Ramirez squaring off against the young exciting Mexican brawler Isaac Avelar in the co-main event, this primetime lineup is an ideal way to load up an already stacked night of boxing at Dignity Health Sports Park, leading up to the return of Andy Ruiz Jr. against Chris Arreola live on pay-per-view.”

Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) was the longest reigning 154-pound world champion before he lost a tough split-decision to Jarrett Hurd in a title unification match in 2018 that was the unanimous “Fight of the Year”. Lara returned from that fight and battled current 154-pound world titleholder Brian Castano to an exciting draw in another narrow fight that could have gone Lara’s way. Lara has since scored back-to-back triumphs with a knockout of Ramon Alvarez in 2019 to capture his current title, and a decision over Greg Vendetti in August 2020. Lara has faced a slew of the top 154-pounders in the sport, including Canelo Alvarez, ahead of his middleweight debut.

The Belleville, New Jersey-native LaManna (30-4-1, 12 KOs) was riding an eight-fight unbeaten streak, which included seven wins plus a draw against Gabriel Bracero, before losing to Jorge Cota in January 2020. He won back-to-back middleweight fights in January and October entering this showdown, knocking out Jorge Pimentel and Juan de Jesus Gonzalez. Prior to his two most recent knockouts, LaManna dropped a narrow decision to Brian Mendoza in August 2020.

Fighting out of Sinaloa, Mexico, Ramirez (24-2-3, 11 KOs) has risen up the featherweight rankings with back-to-back sensational knockout victories, stopping Leduan Barthelemy in November 2019 before most recently blasting out Miguel Flores in December 2020. The 28-year-old is currently riding a streak of wins in four of his last five fights since losing to then 126-pound champion Lee Selby in 2017. He’s won 15 of his last 18 fights overall, with his only other blemishes coming in a draw against Barthelemy that was later avenged, and a decision loss to Claudio Marrero.

The 23-year-old Avelar (17-2, 10 KOs) most recently won a wide unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Sakaria Lukas in December 2020, stopping a two-fight skid that included a loss to super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton. The Aguascalientes, Mexico native was unbeaten in his first 16 pro fights, including a 2019 triumph over Juan Antonio Lopez in his U.S. debut.

Lara vs another guy I don’t care about. The dude is either greatly avoided or poorly managed. Or both.

Erislandy Lara: I'm Going To Make a Statement - Knock Cornflake Out!

WBA/IBO junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara will officially enter the middleweight ranks on May 1.

Lara will collide with Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna for the vacant WBA 'regular' middleweight title on May 1, as the main event of a FOX PBC Fight Night, from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Their fight will top a pre-PPV card to hype the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View event headlined by heavyweights Andy Ruiz and Chris Arreola.

Lara lost a Fight of The Year twelve round decision to Jarrett Hurd in 2018. In 2019, he fought to a close twelve round draw with Brian Castano and then blew away Ramon Alvarez in two rounds to capture the vacant WBA 'regular' title.

Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) last saw action in August 2020, when he easily outboxed Greg Vendetti to one-sided decision win to capture the vacant IBO title at 154-pounds.

The Cuban veteran now aims to become a two division world champion with a victory over LaManna.

“I’m excited to be making my 2021 debut on a huge platform live on FOX,” said Lara.

“Thomas LaManna is a tall middleweight with a lot of experience and I’m taking this fight very seriously, like always. I arrived weeks ago for training camp and Ismael Salas immediately got me working on the fundamentals of boxing. At this stage in my career, I’m all-action, fighting on the inside, and letting my hands fly. I’m going to make a statement in this fight with a knockout.”

LaManna (30-4-1, 12 KOs) is a tremendous underdog in the fight.

He suffered a third round knockout loss at the hands of Jorge Cota in January 2020. He then lost a very close decision to Brian Mendoza in August of the same year. He bounced back with two wins in Mexico over Jorge Pimentel and Juan de Jesus Gonzalez.

They treat Lara like crap.
He's lost three times, never been been stopped 27-3-3.
Always in shape.
Beat Paul Williams in 2011, don't care what the official record says.
Beat Angulo and Trout in 2013.
Lost a decision to Canelo in 2014.
Lost to Hurd 2018.
He deserves some respect if you ask me, hitting his late 30s now, he's a pure bred stay at home boxer.

Evander wrote: ↑27 Mar 2021, 22:00 They treat Lara like crap.
He's lost three times, never been been stopped 27-3-3.
Always in shape.
Beat Paul Williams in 2011, don't care what the official record says.
Beat Angulo and Trout in 2013.
Lost a decision to Canelo in 2014.
Lost to Hurd 2018.
He deserves some respect if you ask me, hitting his late 30s now, he's a pure bred stay at home boxer.

Bruh, he's been totally happy to take these easy sh!tty fights. He gets like 1 million for them

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑27 Mar 2021, 22:05

Evander wrote: ↑27 Mar 2021, 22:00 They treat Lara like crap.
He's lost three times, never been been stopped 27-3-3.
Always in shape.
Beat Paul Williams in 2011, don't care what the official record says.
Beat Angulo and Trout in 2013.
Lost a decision to Canelo in 2014.
Lost to Hurd 2018.
He deserves some respect if you ask me, hitting his late 30s now, he's a pure bred stay at home boxer.

Bruh, he's been totally happy to take these easy sh!tty fights. He gets like 1 million for them

How much did he get for Canelo ?

i think like 1m

Who says ?

what i read from sources online, look it up yourself if you dont accept that

Name a few.

Look it up yourself, I don't know why you ask people questions on here if you aren't willing to accept their answers my man

Cornflake: Lara Moved Up To 160 To Avoid His Mandatory Michel Soro

Even though he will be a sizable underdog, Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna (30-4-1) is very confident that he will upset Erislandy Lara (27-3-3) on May 1st.

They will square off at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. in a main event that will be televised by free to air FOX before the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Chris Arreola pay-per-view card begins later that night. The vacant WBA middleweight title will be at stake.

The New Jersey native dropped back-to-back fights to begin his 2020 campaign but has since rebounded with knockout victories in his two most recent bouts.

"Listen, I am just excited. It has been a long time coming. Everybody and their mother didn't expect me to be here. I know nobody expects me to win which is even bettter. At the end of day, I gotta do what I gotta do to beat this guy. it won't be a shock to me like it will be to everyone else. I am going to prepare for the best Erislandy Lara possible even though he is on the downslide,” LaManna stated.

This will be Lara’s first fight in the middleweight division after having campaigned as a super welterweight for his entire professional career.

Lara also holds the WBA super welterweight title and LaManna believes that there is a very different reason for his move up in weight rather than the opportunity to become a two-division champion.

"I don't think it has to do with the weight. The truth is that he doesn't want anything to do with his mandatory challenger Michel Soro,” Cornflake told Boxing Scene.

LaManna believes that the extra weight is a big advantage for himself. He has fought as low as a welterweight and as high as a middleweight in his career and feels much stronger at the higher weight He is confident that it will show when they set foot in the ring.

“He can still make the weight at 154 but this weight definitely helps me. It is 6 more pounds I have to work with. I started my career at this weight and then worked my way down. I feel strong at this weight,” said LaManna.

Lara got a little over a million f.or the shitty Alvarez brother, so I'm sure he's doing pretty well per fight purse

armageto wrote: ↑31 Mar 2021, 11:32 Lara got a little over a million f.or the shitty Alvarez brother, so I'm sure he's doing pretty well per fight purse

Yeh. Can live a decent lifestyle. Has probably been getting $1m bare minimum since 2014..

I hope this fight falls through, for reasons I conveyed in another thread:

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑24 Mar 2021, 22:03 So the WBA allowed a fighter, Erislandy Lara, on a poor run of form (i.e. two preceding bouts were a loss and a draw), to capture their vacant 154lbs regular title against a journeyman.

The Cuban was then allowed to defend his world 154lbs regular “title” against another journeyman.

And the WBA is allowing Lara to challenge for their vacant 160lbs title, bypassing their current interim titleholder (Chris Eubank Jr.), to face his third consecutive journeyman that has only competed in two middleweight bouts within the last five years (against guys with a combined total of 40 losses!).

For the record, the guy that Lara will be facing (Thomas Lamanna) wasn't even ranked at 160lbs by the WBA until he scored a fifth-round stoppage in January, against an opponent with 14 losses that had previously never engaged in a middleweight contest!

WTF!!!

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑22 Apr 2021, 03:48 I hope this fight falls through, for reasons I conveyed in another thread:

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑24 Mar 2021, 22:03 So the WBA allowed a fighter, Erislandy Lara, on a poor run of form (i.e. two preceding bouts were a loss and a draw), to capture their vacant 154lbs regular title against a journeyman.

The Cuban was then allowed to defend his world 154lbs regular “title” against another journeyman.

And the WBA is allowing Lara to challenge for their vacant 160lbs title, bypassing their current interim titleholder (Chris Eubank Jr.), to face his third consecutive journeyman that has only competed in two middleweight bouts within the last five years (against guys with a combined total of 40 losses!).

For the record, the guy that Lara will be facing (Thomas Lamanna) wasn't even ranked at 160lbs by the WBA until he scored a fifth-round stoppage in January, against an opponent with 14 losses that had previously never engaged in a middleweight contest!

WTF!!!

PBC pushing a lot of WBA Interim title fights recently.

LaManna looks Alot More like a Chess Champion than a Boxer. He looks even too meek to pass as a Tennis Player.

Fight Week

Sky are showing this in NZ so I'm gonna give it a watch. Undercard might produce something entertaining, or more entertaining than Lara, he has never gelled with me.

KiwiRider wrote: ↑28 Apr 2021, 02:55 Sky are showing this in NZ so I'm gonna give it a watch. Undercard might produce something entertaining, or more entertaining than Lara, he has never gelled with me.

What about Ruiz-Arreola?